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Elmer "Ray" Lynn, who likes to play World Poker Tour tournaments, had intended to play one in Canada. But then he realized he had forgotten his passport, had to return, instead played the eighth event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Southern Indiana, and ended up winning it. The victory brought him $37,151, along with a seat in the main event and a gold trophy ring.

Lynn, 61, is from Washington, D.C., and he was in this area visiting his mother when he decided to play the Circuit event. Lynn was taught poker by his father when he was 5. He estimates he's played some 35 Circuits, along with a lot of WSOP events, and WPT tournaments every month. His poker highlight was finishing fourth and winning $89,000 in a WSOP $1,500 Omaha event two years ago.

Lynn plays mostly tournaments and is most comfortable with no-limit, though he also plays pot-limit. He describes his game as "pretty laid-back, not overly aggressive." Tonight he took down a big pot at the second table when he flopped a flush, and never looked back after that. He also credited "better-than-normal" luck for his win tonight. "You can't win with just normal luck," he commented.

Event #8 drew 250 players and a prize pool of $125,000. After two players were knocked out at once, the final table of nine got underway at 1:15 a.m. Brian Brown led the field with 366.000 chips..

Here were the starting chip counts: 

Seat 1. John Bonar                   41,000
Seat 2. Arthur Evans                219,000
Seat 3. Michael Snow              207,000
Seat 4. Francis Foster               152,000
Seat 5. Brian Brown                 366,000
Seat 6. Dean Hamrick              285,000
Seat 7. Jeff Miller                    58,000
Seat 8. Dale Poynter                215,000
Seat 9. Ray Lynn                     236,000

John Bonar and Jeff Miller were by far the two shortest stacks, and they were the first two out. On the first deal, Bonar, the shorter of the two, moved in for his last chips from the big blind with K-9. Brian Brown called with A-Q and blew him away by flopping two pair. Ninth place paid $2,322.

Bonar, 50, is an attorney from Covington, Kentucky who has been playing for 10 years. and finished 17th in the WSOP Seniors event this year. His wife, Barbara, is president of the Kentucky Bar Association and active in charities benefiting autistic children. Their 17-year-old daughter is autistic.

Miller followed him 10 minutes later by moving in from the small blind for 30,000. He had K-4 and was called by Dean Hamrick with A-10. The board came  Q-6-3-A-9, and two were quickly gone. Miller earned $3,483 for eighth. He is a 46-year-old public service administrator from Springfield, Illinois. He's been playing three years and this is his poker highlight.

With 152,000, Francis "Cobra" Foster started as third-lowest, and following the pattern that had been set, he was third out. He opened for 40,000 with K-9 and Brian Brown, holding A-10, raised him all in. An A-Q-4-8-2 was dealt, and Brown's paired ace left Foster in seventh place.

Foster, 42, is from Detroit and in the construction business. He started playing poker "with the guys" 15 years ago, and his hobby is collecting World War II rifles. For finishing seventh he won $4,644.

Amazingly, then the fourth-lowest starter was fourth out. That was Michael Snow. Blinds were now 8,000-16,000 with 2,000 antes. First, Arthur Evans raised from the button. Next, Snow moved in for 58,000, Ray Lynn called. Then Evans moved. in and Ray Lynn called. The hands were turned up: pocket 10s for Evans, A-8 for Snow, Ac-3c for Lynn. The flop came and the players and spectators gasped as the saw K-4-4. Lynn's trips held up and Snow busted out in sixth place. "How do you do that, man?" Evans exclaimed, stunned by the draw-out.

Finishing sixth, Snow drew out $5,805. Snow is 50 and is a real estate appraiser from Detroit, He's been playing 35 years, enjoys work and fishing, and his poker highlights are "having fun every time I play, and meeting Max Shapiro at this event."  

Let's see, who started fifth lowest now? That would be Dale Poynter. Sure enough, following the script, he moved in with Q-J on a flop of J-9-4, only to see Dan Hamrick turn up pocket aces. Hold it! Refusing to follow the script, Poynter caught a queen on the river to escape. Instead, it was Hamrick's fate to finish fifth. Right after blinds went to 10,000-20,000 with 3,000 antes, he moved in with K-J. He found himself up against Brian Brown's pocket kings, and couldn't make a miracle catch when the board came Q-J-6-4-7.

Hamrick, 25, is a poker player from East Lansing, Michigan. He started playing 10 years ago with friends and his other hobby is "drinking." On his bio sheet he wrote this event was his poker highlight, and "please win, please win, please win." Well, he didn't win, but still picked up $6,966 for fifth place.  

Next, Poynter escaped a second time when he was all in with pocket 7s and made a set to easily beat Brown's A-6. The four remaining players now were not that far apart in chips and began a long, long, long discussion, complicated by the fact that Harrah's rules dictate that all tournaments must be played out and players must sign for taxes however they finish. Finally, warned that they cannot discuss deals at the table, they walked off to talk, then did so again at the next break. Deal or no deal? Who knows?

Blinds were now 15,000-30,000 with 4,000 antes. Poynter was next to go all in with K-J versus Arthur Evans' pocket 10s. With two overcards, Poynter wasn't much of an underdog, but lost when the board came 8-8-3-6-5. Fourth paid $8,127. Poynter, 48, is from Charleston, West Virginia and owns a jewelry company. He's entered 15 Circuit events in the two years he's played poker, and has two third-place finishes in Circuit main events here and at Tunica. His poker highlight was playing three years ago in Los Angeles with Pam and Todd Brunson and WSOP champion Jerry Yang.

Evans was next out, taking home $10,449 for third. After Lynn limped on the button with Q-7, he bet 100,000 on a flop of 9-8-7 and Evans, holding 7-2 in the small blind, moved in and couldn't improve. Evans, 51, is a business owner from Davie, Florida who's been playing poker nine years. His cashes including a win in a $1,000 Gold Strike World Poker Open event, a fifth in a Gulf Coast Poker Championship tournament, and an 11th in a WSOP $500 event. 

Heads-up, Brian Brown had 300,000 of the 1,750,000 chips in play and Lynn had all the rest. The match-up didn't last long. Brown quickly moved in with 9-8 and went out against Lynn's K-J when the board came J-4-3-Q-Q. Brown, a contractor from Tampa, Florida, earned $20,434 for second. He learned poker five years ago by watching. This is his first Circuit try, and his poker highlight.